(UPDATED 9:54 PM with added photos – scroll down)
2:02 PM: That’s just one section of the anti-Arctic-offshore-drilling “flotilla” that’s amassed in Elliott Bay this afternoon. Even if you haven’t been down by the water, you’ve probably noticed the helicopter flyover, circling North Admiral to the bay and back. Hundreds of people with kayaks and canoes started arriving before 9 am, organizing in groups along the Harbor Avenue shore; the traffic peaked a couple hours ago but will pick up again when this is over in late afternoon. An onshore program is scheduled at Jack Block Park, where this portable video sign has been showing a live feed of the kayakers, as well as this logo:
A barge off Seacrest, dubbed “The People’s Platform,” is expected to be showing “projections” in the evening. Here’s an aerial we just received from local photographer/pilot Long Bach Nguyen:
Meantime, on sea and land, police have been very conspicuously in view, from this bicycle pedal-by …
… to a patrol boat on the water and two mast-equipped command vehicles parked with an overview of JB Park and Terminal 5:
Two command vehicles visible from the Jack Block Park road pic.twitter.com/HJBteN8nK6
— West Seattle Blog (@westseattleblog) May 16, 2015
T-5 is where the drill platform Polar Pioneer has been docked since Thursday, but no word of any arrests or clashes. The date for today’s protest, as well as a demonstration on land Monday, was announced weeks ago, even before it was known when the PP would arrive; the drillship Noble Discoverer, which Shell also expects to use in the Arctic, remained docked in Everett at last report.
2:10 PM: Our crew at Jack Block says the flotilla participants are paddling by now, getting closer to the Polar Pioneer:
From our partners at The Seattle Times, via Twitter:
āPaddle in #Seattleā protesters gather against #Shell oil rig. (Mark Harrison / ST)
Story:
http://t.co/glrr6C8cit pic.twitter.com/u3tJIgm2Hv
— Seattle Times Photo (@SeaTimesPhoto) May 16, 2015
2:56 PM: Our crew says the flotilla is heading back out of the Duwamish River (Terminal 5 is at its mouth) and toward Jack Block Park.
3:25 PM: What was supposed to be a program of speakers at Jack Block scheduled for around 2 pm hasn’t started yet. So if you’re trying to keep track of when the outbound traffic might start in the area – all bets are off.
4:43 PM: Big outbound traffic as of about 4 pm, us included. More photos later.
ADDED 9:54 PM: As promised – more photos of the sights from and near Jack Block Park over the course of the day, now that we’ve had time to go through what we have – starting with Native canoes that joined the flotilla:
Part of the U.S. Coast Guard’s presence:
One person we recognized in the flotilla – Sustainable West Seattle co-founder Bill Reiswig:
One other view, for geographic context – Long B. Nguyen shot this in the early going today – it shows where Polar Pioneer is, in relation to Jack Block Park (Seacrest is not far off the right edge of the image, which you can click for a larger view):
While this has been promoted as a three-day “Festival of Resistance,” we don’t know of anything tomorrow; Monday morning is the on-land demonstration near the low bridge, scheduled to start around 7 am – so it could affect the morning commute – our most recent mention is here.
| 84 COMMENTS